Prostitution Case Prompts Guilty Pleas

June 23, 1992|By LANE KELLEY, Staff Writer

A husband and wife who ran a high-priced prostitution ring each pleaded guilty on Monday to five charges of living off the earnings of a prostitute. They were sentenced to probation and a fine of $50,000.

Raul Bisbal, 33, and Carolyn Bisbal, 28, will serve probation terms of five and four years, respectively, for operating a prostitution ring out of their beachfront condo in Fort Lauderdale.

Raul Bisbal has already spent six months in the Broward County Jail. Carolyn Bisbal agreed to spend six months under house arrest in the couple`s home.

The couple`s business, advertised as Fantasy Girls, earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a month by sending women to homes and hotels in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties, prosecutors said.

One of the patrons was Wayne Dyer, the psychologist who wrote Your Erroneous Zones, a best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970s.

Dyer pleaded no contest to inducing and enticing a lewd act in May and agreed to donate $5,000 to charity, court records show.

After the Bisbals pay their fine, the state will drop a lien placed on their condo.

Carolyn Bisbal appeared in court with her 18-month old daughter, but Broward Circuit Judge John J. Frusciante said he would not be swayed.

Carolyn Bisbal`s attorney, Ralph Behr, said prosecutors dropped 22 counts related to racketeering as part of the plea bargain.

``It`s a very heavy-handed way to drive people to take plea offers that are not in their best interests,`` Behr said.